Chapter 9: Dead…?
18:58 PM (Japan Time), Wednesday August the 27th…
"… Ugh… My head hurts… Where is this at…?"
"Nagano Prefecture…"
"Who…?"
Misora slowly awakened: she was lying atop a bed and she blinked several times before she tried to focus.
"W-what happened…? Ah! Harp…! Where's Harp?"
"Inside of the Hunter – VG…" A man's voice replied.
Misora gasped and quickly sat up: she looked at her right to see "Mr. D." sitting on a chair nearby and looking uninterested or bored.
"Who are you…? Wait! Do you work for King?"
"… We do." The man replied.
"What do you want to do to me?"
"Show you something."
"What?"
"After that… You will be able to go back."
"Fine. Let's get this over with."
"If you'd follow me…"
"Wait a minute… What's your name?"
"Mr. Denpa."
"Mr. Denpa?"
"Short for "Denpa – Henkan"… My codename…" The man calmly replied without seemingly caring.
"Codename, huh… Whatever."
The man headed for a door and opened it: Misora glanced at him over her right shoulder as she walked out and the man took lead: they walked down a barely lit concrete corridor with several locked doors.
"Is this a prison?"
"No. Bunker… JSDF bunker… Similar to Dealer HQ…" Mr. Denpa calmly replied with a shrug of the shoulders.
"Ah. Fine."
They headed for a nearby elevator and Mr. Denpa hit the "B2F" button: the elevator climbed down and pinged when it reached the B2F area: both stepped out and walked down a few steps down a corridor: the door at the end slid to the left upon coming closer and revealed a room filled with condensate humidity given its low temperature: a tall cylinder the glass walls of which had condensed was placed at the center of it and had some wires linked to it from above and below: there was a control console placed in front of it.
"What's this place? Do you store chemicals or what?"
"We usually do, yet… That capsule has something special on it."
"Yeah? A new super-weapon to conquer the world…?"
"No. We are not as foolish as Mr. King was."
"A new battle Wizard…?"
"Wrong."
"Fine. Show it to me and let's end this silly story."
"Maybe it won't be so silly once you see it."
"Then it's gotta be something important."
"Of course it is."
Mr. Denpa walked over to the panel and muttered something under his breath before inputting some commands into it: the cylinder hummed and the condensed humidity began to fade.
"Look."
"Kami – sama…! Is that…?"
"Yeah. Correct."
"I-impossible…! Some hours ago…!"
"Plenty of time."
"W-why did you…?"
"Orders."
"King's orders…?"
"Correct."
"H-how could you do that…?"
"Been in a lot of wars. One more doesn't make a difference. That's why they had me do it."
"Y-you…!"
"Curse me all you want: a soldier merely follows orders."
"No…! King wasn't…! It had to be…! That "IQ" villain Akatsuki – san talked about…!"
"Ah… True. Akatsuki Shidou may have heard of that person through Mr. King, but it isn't important… No matter how hard you try, you won't find that person…"
"I can't believe it…! That can't be the real one…!"
"It is. Look there."
"B-blood… Bullet wound…!"
"A war veteran's nightmare… 20 minutes of slow agony… That person saw it fitting that it was calling out to you and your "companions" before this one became no more…"
"Y-you people…!"
Misora looked shocked and enraged upon seeing Subaru's corpse placed inside of the capsule: it was standing against a central column and had been stripped of all clothing save for a pair of black boxers: his eyes were closed and he seemed to have bit his lower lip in agony: a bullet wound was visible on the stomach area.
"No…! Subaru – kun…! It's my fault…! I should've believed in you…! You were the real one, after all…!" She cried.
She fell into her knees as her hands leant against the glass of the capsule and suddenly collapsed into the ground while looking seemingly unconscious: some tears had slid down her cheeks.
"… Satisfied?" Mr. Denpa brusquely asked someone out of sight.
"Bravo."
Mr. "Secretary" walked towards him from the left: he looked about a meter and eighty tall.
He wore a tuxedo with a black rose on the right side of it plus black shoes: he was smoking and had a smug smile on his face as he looked at the knocked out Misora.
"It was so delicious… That person missed this kind of thrill."
"Hmpf." Mr. Denpa looked elsewhere.
"Ah… Touched a spot…" Mr. Secretary taunted.
"Of course. So? Is the farce over?"
"My, my! You seem to be in quite the bad mood, Mr. Denpa."
"It's never been my policy to bring harm to minors."
"Really… Well then, one must stain his hands if he wishes to progress in these circles…"
"Mr. Admin would've told me that time ago if it were true."
"Ah… True, true… Anyway… Yeah. Farce's over, so… I'll be heading back to meet that person… Goodbye."
19:11 PM (Japan Time)…
"… Mr. Sponsor. Coast is clear…"
"What was in that bloody cylinder, anyway?"
"A fake corpse… A mannequin… Shaped after Mr. Hoshikawa…"
"Bloody them!"
Vadous got another fit of rage once Mr. Denpa reported the news to him with a sigh.
"However… She did get to link this to "IQ", so…"
"Hmpf. Now they'll believe it more, yet… I would've preferred for this not to happen… Bothersome man… Let me guess: he was smoking the whole time and laughing at it like the psycho puppet he is."
"Correct, sir…"
"Anyway… You could take Ms. Hibiki to Shiisaa Island Castle and leave her there for Strong to find. It'll be safer."
"Good idea, sir… Are we making progress over there, though?"
"Yeah. I estimate "IQ" to be brought down in about… one or two months, I'd say…"
"Why the wait, though?"
"I've seen their itineraries… And by then, they'll be in an area where it'll be easy to fake the deliberate power supply failure to natural phenomena… They will most likely have forgotten about this incident by then and their guard will be lowered. I'd love to act sooner, yet… Given this sudden apparition of that man… It'd be dangerous."
"I see… Well, one's wishes not always can be realized ASAP…"
"True. We'll be in contact."
"Roger, sir."
Vadous sighed and looked tired once he cut off the communication…
19:15 PM (Japan Time)…
"… You look somewhat worried, Albert."
"Ah… Master…"
Albert had been sitting on one of the living room's armchairs and looking out at the still lit ocean with an absent look: Lartes walked in and seemed concerned.
"I've remembered another conversation… And I was arguing with someone over the importance of "bonds"… That person did claim that he hated them with a passion because he was bullied by people who banded together but then were weak when faced alone with him… And I did tell that person someone had helped me see the importance of "bonds" while I, at the beginning, had ditched them because I'd lost my father… What does Master think of it?" Albert detailed.
"Hmmm… It'd seem you used to believe in "bonds" or "Brother Bands" up until recently… Maybe that person was someone who'd suffered bullying for too long and had ended up traumatized over the idea of "banding" so he sought to become independent…" Lartes muttered.
"By the way, Master… Was it my imagination or did the boar scroll's eye shine red one day?"
"What? Shine red? No way…"
"Ah. I thought as much… I was tired from my target practice exercises, too, so… Maybe that was the reason."
"The reason was that ya see me 'round the house too much and flashy manly color gets stuck to yer eyes, Albert – chan!"
Omega suddenly dropped down from the ceiling with a grin in front of Albert: he gasped and looked taken aback by the sudden apparition while Lartes rolled his eyes.
"It m-might be the case, Omega – san…"
"San wa iranai!"
"E-even so…"
"O. K. So? Did ya find the stuff?"
"I am afraid not…"
"What… You didn't have the guts to look for it?"
"I am afraid not…"
"Huff. He's conscious that it wasn't something totally legal. Really, Omega… Trying to sneak those magazines into his room was not a nice idea at all and won't be: he legally can't see those."
"Aw! Ya guys lack the thrill that comes with life!"
"We don't need that thrill: we're busy enough training and trying to figure out what exactly happened to him."
"Sure, sure… Well then… I'm off."
"Where are you going to?"
"I'm gonna say hi to the new seagull nest."
"Crap."
Omega suddenly ran out and they heard him open and close the front door before several seagulls' shrieks rang out: Lartes fumed while Albert looked totally surprised.
"This is too much, even…" He grimly muttered.
"Yeah… No wonder…"
"What can we do?"
"Bear with it, I'm afraid, until I find a way to switch him off." Lartes told him with a sigh.
"Uh-unh… I understand."
Albert resumed glancing at ocean while Lartes looked about to run out of patience regarding Omega…
19:45 PM (Japan Time)…
"… So? What the heck happened?"
"I d-don't really know… One witness saw a c-cylinder taking t-them away somewhere…"
"Stop making your teeth dance… Point is: someone has taken them away but we couldn't figure out how the trap worked like."
Utagai Shinsuke looked nervous as he spoke with Shidou regarding the earlier events: Cygnus looked slightly annoyed at his manner of speaking but Shidou didn't seem to care.
"Fine. And now we need someone to magically tell us where they ended up at…" Shidou fumed.
"Shidou…" Acid called out.
"What? Queen Tia wants to pester me again?"
"Wrong. It's…"
"No, no. No need to continue… Complains from Gonta?"
"Wrong. It's just that…"
"Tell to Shirogane Luna and to Saishouin Kizamaro that they won't be able to do Denpa – Henakn."
"Shidou! Listen to me and don't guess."
"What?"
"Strong contacted me."
"Well! Tell him he wasn't "strong" enough and that he should train to become a really "strong" bloke." Shidou replied with a hint of sarcasm.
"That wasn't funny."
"It's called "sarcasm", you know."
"It's important."
"Well! What did he want, then?"
"Hibiki Misora appeared on the Shiisaa Island Castle's balcony!"
"What!"
"Oh! Thanks goodness!" Utagai looked relieved.
"A team is heading over there."
"Good. And I won't cut you off anymore, then…"
"We have the hair strands' analysis results…" Dr. Yoiri walked in.
"Oh! So?" Shidou asked.
"Well…" She trailed off.
"What?" Shidou frowned.
"I think it's better if we wait and let that child know, too."
"If you say so…"
"S-something tells me it's a b-bad thing…" Utagai muttered.
"Get serious!" Shidou told him.
"S-sorry…"
"Things look like they'll take another turn of events…"
"You think too much." Shidou shrugged.
"Maybe."
"Ya sound like a lawyer!"
"Not this again…"
"Yeah. Anyway… It'd seem this is way more complicated than we thought given Yoiri – hakase's reaction." Shidou muttered.
"Gives off that feeling, true…" Utagai muttered.
"Maybe we're imaging things." Acid ventured.
"… This is A Team. We're heading over here with a patrol vehicle… Hibiki looks alright and doesn't seem to have any superficial wounds." A female officer reported.
"Thank goodness…" Utagai muttered.
"We can be grateful of it." Cygnus shrugged.
"And grateful that Queen Tia isn't here to pick on me, too…" Shidou sounded sarcastic.
"Shidou… A serious thing has happened yet all you can do is using your sarcasm to shoo it away?" Acid asked with a hint of annoyance.
"Guess so… I actually wish to stumble upon a powerful clue which can lead us to that "IQ" character whoever it is… And I'd rather say it's gotta be an old man with lots of money."
"We don't know: it could be a foreigner on his 40s, too."
"No… The older, the wiser or so goes the motto…"
"Well… I'd say the older, the eviler…" Dr. Yoiri muttered.
"Yeah. Something similar to that, really…"
"Maybe Hibiki has gotten a hold of new info which could help us set up a strong front. Yet… Investigations on "Zataki Tosho" are stuck: the man seems to have been a figurehead set up beforehand." Acid reported.
"No… He's fond of cross-dressing." Shidou grinned.
Everyone sighed and rolled their eyes in exasperation while Shidou chuckled and made some silly poses by waving his arms around.
"Cheer up!"
"You're not being convincing enough." Acid told him.
"Stop sounding like a lawyer."
"I don't sound like a lawyer…"
Shidou shrugged and kept on making poses while Acid sighed in defeat…